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What about abutters?

By Alana Melanson, amelanson@sentinelandenterprise.com

Updated:
08/05/2013 06:30:58 AM EDT

As this artist's rendering shows, the Live! Casino proposed for Leominster would sit on the border with Lancaster. From the $400,000 licensing fee bidders for Massachusetts casinos must pay, $50,000 is set aside for host- and community-impact studies and negotiating mitigation agreements with surrounding communities. COURTESY THE CORDISH COS.

The slots parlor proposed in Leominster, if approved by city voters and licensed by the state Gaming Commission, guarantees the city at least $38 million over 10 years, and possibly more if gross revenues are higher.

The $200 million facility, proposed by The Cordish Cos. for a site on Jungle Road, is also expected to generate more than 1,000 new jobs and millions of dollars more in state tax revenue.

But what can abutting communities expect to gain -- or lose -- if the deal goes through?

Massachusetts Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby said the primary reasons the Legislature and Gov. Deval Patrick passed the casino legislation were for economic development, revenues to the state and local host communities and the creation of jobs.

"The idea is to try to create a rising tide that lifts other boats, not just the casino's boats," he said.

By bringing more people into an area, Crosby said, those people will stay in hotels and motels and spend their money at restaurants and other businesses. There is also the potential for increased housing demand and interest in redevelopment of old mills and other buildings, he said.

"It's that kind of ripple effect we hope for," Crosby said.

All four casino and slot parlor licenses together are projected to directly generate a total of $300 million to $500 million in incremental tax revenue, he said, not including revenue from taxes on meals, gasoline, sales and other taxes.

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About half of those proceeds would go into funds managed by the Gaming Commission, while the rest would go to funds managed by the Legislature, Crosby said.

Those funds cover a number of different areas, such as public health, transportation infrastructure and local aid, he said.

The latter was put in place because the casinos are anticipated to reduce state lottery proceeds at least temporarily, Crosby said, but by how much is impossible to predict.

An artist's rendering of the Live! Casino proposed for Leominster by The Cordish Cos. COURTESY THE CORDISH COS.

Currently, 20 cents of every dollar that comes in through the lottery goes directly to local aid for cities and towns, he said, so every dollar taken from the lottery means less local aid.

The Legislature's intention in creating the local-aid fund was to help offset that difference, Crosby said.

The next phase of The Cordish Cos.' application is due to the commission by Oct. 4. In that phase, the company must show certification of a binding vote in the host community -- it goes to a referendum vote in Leominster Sept. 24 -- and submit studies showing the regional impact and economic effect of the project.

Of the $400,000 licensing fee the company has paid, $50,000 is set aside for host and community-impact studies and negotiating mitigation agreements with surrounding communities.

"One may require mitigation as it pertains to transportation issues, whereas in other communities, the water system might be impacted," commission spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said. "It really depends on each proposal as well as the information determined from the impact studies."

While the intent of the agreements is to assess and address potential impacts, there is also the opportunity to negotiate other benefits as well, she said. If the parties can't agree, the commission steps in to assist, Driscoll said.

Crosby said the commission also has the authority to request or mandate changes to surrounding community agreements if it finds them to be inadequate in addressing community concerns and necessary mitigation.

Surrounding communities may be designated by the applicant, or the community may petition the Gaming Commission no later than 10 days after the casino application is submitted.

Sharing a border with Leominster doesn't guarantee a town designation as a surrounding community, Crosby said. If there is no material, negative impact to a neighboring community, it does not have any formal standing to create an agreement, he said, but that doesn't mean it can't give input to the developer informally.

Crosby said casino and slot-parlor developers "have a tremendous interest in being a good citizen," and he expects they will be interested in hearing out other area neighbors in a show of good will.

Because the proposed facility would sit on the border with Lancaster, that town would likely have the biggest impact of any nearby communities.

"Until it really moves forward, it's really hard to analyze whether there will be any impact on us," Lancaster Town Administrator Orlando Pacheco previously told the Sentinel & Enterprise. He did not return requests for further comment last week.

Officials in most of the other towns that share a border with Leominster are also sitting tight until a decision is made.

Westminster Town Planner Stephen Wallace said that while the Planning Board has not formally discussed the matter, Planning Board Chairman William "Bud" Taylor III did ask state Reps. Kimberly Ferguson and Jon Zlotnik during a recent Board of Selectmen meeting that, once slots or casino plans are submitted, the town be given the opportunity to review and comment on them.

Westminster Town Administrator Karen Murphy said selectmen haven't had any formal discussion on the matter either, and she hopes the town will be contacted.

"We definitely would like our input to be included in their consideration," she said.

Lunenburg Board of Selectmen Chairman Tom Alonzo said his board also hasn't formally discussed the slots parlor, but he doesn't see it having a direct financial impact on the town.

"Personally, I have no objection to it being there," he said. "I assume Leominster will go through the due diligence to ensure it is properly sited."

Alonzo said he would welcome discussion once a more concrete project plan is available, but wouldn't press for one.

Sterling Town Administrator Terri Ackerman said it's too early for selectmen there to discuss it.

"We're just watching the situation and studying it," she said. "We're not going to do anything until after they've chosen the location."

Princeton Town Administrator John Lebeaux said selectmen there are also watching and waiting. They're aware of the proposal, he said, but likely won't react before Leominster voters approve of the facility.

Lebeaux said he can't see the slots parlor having much of an impact on Princeton, positive or negative.

"The location being such as it is, I didn't see any potential impact on traffic," he said. "I didn't see that people who wanted to go to the facility would be using Princeton streets due to the proximity of I-190."

Fitchburg Mayor Lisa Wong was the only neighboring municipality leader to speak out against the facility.

She believes there are many downsides to slot parlors, and that it's the wrong direction for the region to take.

"I think they prey on the poor, and frankly, there's precious few lands we have available here to attract industry," Wong said. "My feeling is, if we're going to support a manufacturing industry and attract biotechnology or high-tech jobs here, we can't just rely on what's available in one community. We need a plethora of towns working to one end and to have a collective, regional economic strategy."

Forging a universal plan would maximize job creation throughout the region, she said.

"Until we do that, I think every community will be grasping at straws for what they can get, rather than having a coordinated approach to attract businesses with good jobs," Wong said.

She believes the jobs a slot parlor would create would not provide living wages, and much of the profits, coming from money spent by people in the community, would go to people outside of the area.

Wong said she would like to see the state spend as much time and resources as it has on gaming to support other sectors, especially manufacturing, which produces jobs with good pay, leading to more money staying in the community.

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